A decision has been made to hold a meeting between the Home Ministry and the representatives of environmentalists and civil society members protesting to save the Tetultala ground in city’s Kalabagan area.
The meeting would begin at the ministry on Wednesday afternoon, confirmed the representatives of civil society members and personal secretary Md Asaduzzaman of Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan.
Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan would attend the meeting, said the representatives of civil society members.
They further said the prearranged protest rally of local people, environmentalists and civil society members would continue. Some of the civil society members would attend the protest while some other will attend the meeting, they added.
On behalf of the civil society members, Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association (BELA) Chief Executive Syeda Rizwana Hasan, Nijera Kori’s Chief Executive Khushi Kabir, engineer Iqbal Habib and Udichi’s Sangita Imam would attend the meeting with the Home Ministry. Engineer and urban planning expert Mobassher Hossain also would attend the meeting.
Speaking to Prothom Alo about this, Syeda Rizwana Hasan said, “Giving allocation of this playground to police and constructing an establishment is a violation of the country’s law. We will not budge on our position. Demonstration and discussion will go together.”
There is a field at the opposite side of Panthapath in the capital’s Kalabagan area. This field is known as Tetultala ground. Local children play there while the ground is used in social purposes as well.
Recently police have taken an initiative to construct a building for Kalabagan police station there. Local people have been demonstrating since the beginning of 2020 to protect the ground. As part of the protest, they also formed a human chain in front of ‘Concord Tower’ in Panthapath on 4 February. Syeda Ratna was one of the main organisers of the movement.
Because of the protests, police on Sunday picked up Syeda Ratna and her college student from their home and released her after nearly 13 hours. Rights activists and people from different walks of life have been protesting the detention and construction of police station in the only field in the locality for over 300,000 people.